Facebook is testing a feature that'll help you find free public Wi-Fi

The world's largest social network is reportedly testing a public Wi-Fi finder feature within its mobile apps, TheNextWeb reports.
The experimental feature is still in testing and has yet to officially roll out. Mashable didn't find the feature on two iPhones (iPhone 7 and 7 Plus) and an Android phone (OnePlus 3T) running the latest version of the Facebook app.


"To help people stay connected to the friends and experiences they care about, we are rolling out a new feature that surfaces open Wi-Fi networks associated with nearby places," a Facebook spokesperson told VentureBeat. The feature is currently being tested in select countries. 
Mashable has reached out to Facebook for details on when the feature might be be made widely available.
The feature is different from, say, opening up your Wi-Fi settings and looking for an open network. From the screenshots TNW and VentureBeat took, it appears you'll actually be able to see the specific places that have free and public Wi-Fi available (at a nearby McDonald's or Starbucks, for instance).
There are already apps for iOS and Android like this one that show you places with free and public Wi-Fi. But building the feature right into Facebook would be a bit more convenient than using different apps. 
Not to mention, a solid Wi-Fi connection would further the company's mission to help people access the internet (even if it's through its platform).

Twitter Briefly Goes Down

 Twitter appears to be once again facing issues on Monday. 


When visiting the site, users were greeted with the message "Something is technically wrong. Thanks for noticing - we're going to fix it up and have things back to normal soon." 

The outages appears to have been brief however, with intermittent reports in India spread from 6:50pm IST seemingly fixed by 8:05pm IST. The crowd-sourced Down Detector service on its Twitter status page notes that reports for the disruption globally began after 6pm IST. 

Why did Google choose Java as default programming language for Android

Here are a few reasons why Google chose Java for its Android operating system
Google hit a bullseye with smartphone users when it brought out the first version Android operating system. At that time when Nokia and its proprietary Symbian operating system, ruled the roost in smartphone market, Google brought out the first version of Android in 2007. Today Android smartphones rule the world with over 85 percent of the smartphones in the world running on various versions of Android operating system.
Android
Android is based on the Linux kernel and designed primarily for touchscreen mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets. Android’s user interface is mainly based on direct manipulation, using touch gestures that loosely correspond to real-world actions, such as swiping, tapping and pinching, to manipulate on-screen objects, along with a virtual keyboard for text input.
So why did Google choose Java over other programming languages
The basic advantages of having Java programming language for Android SDKs is given below :
Java is a known language, developers know it and don’t have to learn it. Java has yet again emerged as the world’s most popular programming language. Also there are lots of engineers who specialise in Java making it easier for them to compile Apps and Games.

The CEO of WhatsApp explained why it killed its subscription fee

WhatsApp CEO Jan Koum has explained in an interview with Wired why the company killed its $0.99-a-year subscription option.
"We've done really well in the consumer space," he said. "But there is whole other aspect of communication as you go through your day: You want to communicate with businesses."

By removing the subscription, WhatsApp is accessible to a massive number of new users, especially in emerging markets, such as India and Brazil.
"For people in India or Brazil, it's very hard for them to pay," said Koum. "They don't necessary have credit cards or the infrastructure to make payments."
Businesses will want to reach the maximum amount of people which is why Facebook, with its 1.2 billion monthly users, makes so much money from advertising.
Koum rejected the traditional advertising model in a company blog post, but the kind of reach WhatsApp has is valuable to businesses.
WhatsApp has not been specific on what kind of interaction users can have with brands, but Koum did give an example of a restaurant. "Maybe [the restaurant replies] with three different options," he said. "I just tap on a button and the reservation is made."
WhatsApp never publicly stated how many people paid for its service, but leaked documents revealed it made around $15 million (£10 million) in revenue in the first half of 2014, suggesting it was not many. During that period, the company lost around $250 million (£175 million).
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg urged analysts and investors to be patient as WhatsApp figured out how to make money, just as Facebook worked it out in 2006 and 2007.

Microsoft releases its first Windows 10 beta build of the year

The new build features improvements to OneCore, the underlying shared core of Windows that's on all the devices running Windows 10 including Xbox One, smartphones and even Microsoft's HoloLens.
Members of the Windows Insider Program got their first new beta build of Microsoft's operating system for 2016, and it's a snoozer when it comes to user-facing features.

According to Microsoft Vice President Gabe Aul, the structural changes to OneCore are almost at the point where Microsoft is comfortable letting teams check in new features for Windows 10, which is good news for those of us looking for a taste of new functionality Microsoft has in store.